Audrey quickly ran up the stage, Sandra trailing behind her.
She reached Maria and squatted before her, palming her face.
No one was paying attention to them, everyone was busy exiting the hall to find shelter till everywhere was announced safe again.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Audrey asked angrily.
“Helping you,” Maria smirked.
“For fuck’s sake! This is no time to make jokes! Get up!” Audrey waved her hand over Maria’s wrist, releasing the chains.
“I knew you would save me,” Maria smiled.
“Come on,” Audrey held Maria’s arm and quickly dragged her out of the hall.
Sandra followed them, giving them some space. She didn’t want to intrude on their family bond moment.
She couldn’t describe how she felt seeing her friend so close to someone that wasn’t her. She never knew she could be jealous in friendship.
“This way,” Audrey directed Maria towards the passage that led to the servants’ quarters.
Knock! Knock!
Audrey knocked on Ms. Bridget’s door, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.
“Audrey, everything alright?” Ms. Bridget asked as she opened the door and saw Audrey looking all pissed off.
“Come in,” She stepped aside, letting her visitors in.
Sandra closed the door as she entered, slowly walking to the chair near the table to sit down.
“Sit,” Audrey pointed at the bed.
“Yes, ma’am,” Maria lowered herself to the bed.
Audrey sighed helplessly and sat beside her cousin.
“Who’s your friend, Audrey?” Ms. Bridget asked.
“Not friend… sister,” Sandra said unexcitedly.
“Sister?” Ms. Bridget paused, taking her time to look closely at the girl who was sitting on her bed.
She didn’t really see the resemblance between them, and she wondered how possible it was for Audrey to have had a sister who seemed a bit older when she vividly remembered that her mother was chased out of the Pack with her as an only child.
“Oh, sorry for being rude, I’m Maria, Audrey’s cousin,” Maria said to Ms. Bridget.
She decided to speak freely to the lady since she already called Audrey by her name, and Audrey confidently bringing her here shows how close they’ll trust these people. Even though the girl in the corner hadn’t said anything to her, she knew she was harmless, she felt it.
“Ah, that explains it, what brings you here? You know you’ve just risked your life by doing so, right?” Ms. Bridget handed her a glass of water.
“Thanks,” Maria sighed.
She looked at Audrey and contemplated if she should go ahead and tell her the reason she came or if she should forget about it.
She would tell her, she’s come this far already and been through a lot.
Audrey was still angry with Maria, she couldn’t believe she could be so dense as to put her life on the line just because she wanted to help her.
“You-”
“I saw a vision…” Maria interrupted Audrey.
She didn’t want her scolding her again, she never liked it anytime Audrey wasn’t happy with her.
“You can?” Audrey asked, turning to her.
“No, yes… I mean, I guess,” Maria shrugged.
“What was it?” Audrey was curious to find out.
“Can I say it here?” Maria whispered.
In as much as she knew these were Audrey’s people, she still believed that some things should be kept private.
“Tch,” Sandra scoffed.
“Ouch!” Sandra cried out, holding her shoulder that was smacked by Ms. Bridget.
“Be nice,” Ms. Bridget chastised.
“But, she indirectly just called us traitors,” Sandra complained, looking right at Maria.
“Huh!” Maria gasped, “No I didn’t,” She defended.
“Then why not go ahead and tell us what you saw?” Sandra challenged.
“Because the word ‘privacy’ was made for a reason,” Maria Air quoted.
“Hah! There it is, she called us traitors again!” Sandra pointed accusingly at Maria.
“No, I didn’t-”
“Quit it! Both of you,” Ms. Bridget raised her voice, quieting the two debaters.
“Sorry, Ma’am,” Maria apologized.
“Hump!” Sandra grunted, facing away from her rival.
Audrey just sat still, looking from one person to another as they took turns trying to make their childish and useless points.
She thought she had escaped the nonstop banter between Maria and Mary, but unfortunately, Maria decided to show up and also happened to find another person to add to themselves.
‘Yaay!’ How awesome, now they were triplets, it meant more trouble for her.
“What’s the matter with you two?” Ms. Bridget asked with a serious frown.
“Never mind them, Mama, trust me… you don’t have to mind them,” Audrey chuckled.
She was familiar with it; she’d learned how to cope with it, and she believed Ms. Bridget would learn sooner than later that it was best to stay out of their bantering; trying to help them sort it out would yield the opposite effect.
“Don’t worry, Maria, just say whatever it was, they’re family,” Audrey said with a smile.
Sandra smirked from her chair.
“Ok…” Maria said.
She looked at Audrey for a second before speaking.
“Your father is still alive…” Maria announced.
“What?!” Audrey questioned, perplexed.
“And he’s planning to kill you. But, at the moment, he doesn’t know you’re his daughter; he’ll know soon.” Maria spoke, her tone serious.
“How’s that possible?” Ms. Bridget asked.
She could still remember the reason for Audrey’s mother’s banishment, so the news she heard now, made her start to question everything she thought she knew about Audrey’s parent’s history.
“Yeah… how’s that possible?” Audrey questioned absent-mindedly.
This was the first time someone was mentioning the word father to her. It was strange, yet she wanted to know what her father looked like. Even though she knew she didn’t want any relationship with him, she was still curious.
After all, just like Maria had said, the man was even planning on how to find and kill her.
Sandra stared at Maria in disbelief. She thought that Maria had just made that up as an excuse to come find Audrey, she didn’t believe her one bit.
“I don’t know how either, but Mom didn’t seem as surprised as we are by the news, I think she knows something she doesn’t want to share. That’s why I sneaked out to come to find you and discover the truth with you,” Maria gently held Audrey’s hand.
“Then, who is he?” Audrey looked at Maria beside her.
“Ah, I don’t know your father, I didn’t see. I had just seen a faceless man standing beside a sculpture that looked like you, and he told me all these, then said I should inform you and also protect you, that’s why I’m here,” Maria patted Audrey’s hand in hers.
“A faceless man, beside my sculpture, damn,” Audrey whispered.
She knew exactly who that faceless man could be, and she knew Maria was telling the truth because she had not told them about the sculpture yet.
“Hm,” Sandra was drumming her fingers on top of the table, thinking about what she’d just heard.
She wondered what Audrey’s sculpture would look like, and she was dying of curiosity to find out who the faceless man could be.
“I think I know who the faceless man is,” Audrey said.
“Who?!”
“Who?!”
“Who?!”
Three people fired up the same question at the same time.
Audrey looked from one person to the other, surprised. They looked more curious than her.
“I think it’s Alpha Lake,” Audrey informed.
Everyone stared at her with a confused face, they were trying to add one or two up and check if it would add up to any reason why Alpha Lake would appear in Maria’s vision and ask her to come and protect Audrey.
“And…” Audrey trailed off.
She didn’t know if it was wise to tell them about the garden at the moment, she had wanted to wait until she found her amulet, but since Maria’s already seen it in a vision, then she should let her know.
“And…” Maria probed.
“I do have a sculpture,” Audrey said.
“No shit!” Maria said excitedly.
She knew the vision was just a one-time thing; as a healer, she was excited to have seen it because healers couldn’t see visions; she was happy she’d seen something that was accurate.
“Really?” Sandra asked, she stole a glance at Maria.
‘So she was right all along,’ Sandra thought.
“Are you sure, child?” Ms. Bridget asked.
“Yes, but it’s hidden in a secret garden in the forest,” Audrey told them seriously.
“Wow, this gets more interesting every second!” Maria bounced up and down on the bed.
“Yeah,” Sandra agreed, nodding her head.
“There’s no such garden in this Pack, Audrey,” Ms. Bridget said, staring at Audrey to gauge if she was playing with them.
“I’ll take you all there later, for now, let’s think about what to do with this person,” Audrey pointed at Maria.
“Yeah, come up with a swift plan, I don’t want to die,” Maria said mischievously.
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you,” Sandra promised.
“Thank you…” Maria didn’t know her name.
“Sandra, but you can call me Sandy, just like they do,” Sandra pointed to Audrey and Ms. Bridget.
“Ok, Sandy, thanks,” Maria smiled.
“You’re very welcome,” Sandra said.
Ms. Bridget looked from Sandra to Maria, then at Audrey, an unbelievable look on her face.
“I told you not to worry,” Audrey shrugged.
Ms. Bridget smiled and went over to her small wardrobe.
“Damn, this shit hurts,” Maria rolled up her sleeves to show a small silver-chain bracelet that wrapped her wrist tightly.
“What’s that?” Audrey asked, immediately taking Maria’s hand and staring at the strange bracelet.